Egypt opens world’s widest suspension bridge

23-05-2019

Egypt has announced the opening of the world’s widest suspension bridge, across the Nile, in what is one of a series of military-led, mega-projects designed to improve infrastructure and provide jobs, said a report.

The bridge, which crosses the Nile just north of central Cairo, is a key link in a highway stretching from the Red Sea in the east to Egypt’s northwestern Mediterranean coast, and is meant to help reduce congestion in the capital, reported Africa News.

Traffic ground to a halt in parts of central Cairo on Wednesday morning as president Abdel Fattah Al Sisi travelled to open the bridge with ministers and military generals, stated the report.

At its widest, the bridge has six traffic lanes in each direction and measures 67.3 m across. A regional director for the Guinness Book of World Records present at the opening said that makes it the world’s widest suspension bridge.

Around one million cu m of concrete as well as 1,400 km of steel wire for 160 suspension cables were used in its construction, it added.

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